Investing.com– Most Asian stocks were muted on Friday amid uncertainty over U.S. interest rates and the upcoming presidential election, while Chinese shares turned positive on data showing the economy grew as expected.
Technology stocks clocked relatively smaller losses, while chipmaker TSMC rallied to record highs on stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings.
Regional markets took muted cues from a mostly flat overnight session on Wall Street. While investors did cheer signs of resilience in the U.S. economy, this enthusiasm was largely undercut by bets on a smaller upcoming interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
U.S. stock index futures were flat Asian trade.
Chinese shares rise as GDP meets expectations
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes rose around 1.2% each, recovering sharply from a negative start to the day. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.6% on gains in locally-listed mainland stocks.
Gross domestic data showed China’s economy grew 4.6% year-on-year in the third quarter, as expected. Quarter-on-quarter growth also accelerated, although year-to-date GDP growth still remained below the government’s 5% annual target.
Still, Friday’s gains helped Chinese stocks recoup a bulk of their weekly losses, putting them on track for a muted weekly performance.
Chinese shares had logged heavy losses earlier in the week after Beijing’s signals on more stimulus measures inspired limited confidence, given that the government still left investors wanting for more details on the planned measures.
TSMC hits record high on positive Q3, chipmakers lag
Taiwan’s TSMC (TW:2330) (NYSE:TSM) was an outlier on Friday, with the firm’s Taipei shares surging nearly 6% to a record high.
The world’s biggest contract chipmaker logged stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings, and also presented an upbeat outlook, as it continued to benefit from robust demand fueled by the artificial intelligence industry.
TSMC is widely considered as a bellwether for the chipmaking industry, and flagged increasing demand from AI for the sector.
But other Asian chipmaking stocks mostly retreated on Friday. The sector was still reeling from weak guidance presented by chip equipment maker ASML (AS:ASML) Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) earlier this week, as the firm said chip demand from applications outside AI was likely to remain weak.
Asian markets muted, head for mild weekly losses
Broader Asian markets kept to a tight range, and were mostly headed for mild weekly declines.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes rose slightly as consumer price index data showed inflation increased slightly more than expected in September, while underlying inflation remained robust.
Australia’s ASX 200 was the worst performer for the day, losing 0.9% as investors locked in profits from a recent record high. South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.4%.
Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a weak open, as the index sank from 25,000 points amid a broad exodus of foreign investors. Some disappointing earnings also weighed.
